I see the mayor has suddenly found a number of “shovel ready” projects and has applied for central government funding. They must have been hastily formulated as there are no business plans or other details on the Council website and the number of possible new jobs has to be a guesstimate. There is a huge difference between 200 and 300 for one project alone! Should Rotorua not get all the funding requested, are ratepayers going to have to cover these additional costs, further compounding the debt? It’s alarming that part of that funding is for development on private land (Whakarewarewa Forest) that prior to covid would have been funded privately. Let private investors fund development on private land, if necessary down the track, after all they will be the beneficiaries. I’m sure there are many businesses which would like government handouts to develop their own businesses on their land for their future benefit!The mayor is boasting a 1000-job comeback. Where are these people coming from? Can those now unemployed tourism and hospitality workers suddenly become construction and other highly specialised workers? If not, will these workers come from outside the district? If so where are they going to live?

Paddi Hodgkiss